Method and device for reminding user

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

0001The present application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/CN2014/084462, filed Aug. 15, 2014, which is based upon and claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201410155540.7, filed Apr. 17, 2014, the entire content of all of which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

0002The present disclosure generally relates to terminal technology and, more particularly, to a method and a device for reminding a user.

BACKGROUND

0003With a development of technologies relating to terminals, terminal devices such as mobile phones, tablet PCs, and the like have become indispensable products in people's life and work. In many situations in people's daily life, some operations or changes of settings of terminals are required in response to a usage requirement in a certain situation. For example, when entering into a meeting room or a movie theater, since such situation may require silencing the terminal, a terminal user may choose to set an operation profile of the terminal to a silent mode. The terminal user may then set the operation profile of the terminal back to a normal mode when leaving the meeting room or the movie theater.

0004However, the user may forget to change the operation profile of the terminal in response to the aforementioned situations or forget to change it back to the normal mode after leaving those situations. This leads to failures of timely responses to the situations and/or reduced interactions between the user and the terminal.

SUMMARY

0005According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for reminding a user, comprising: detecting whether a preset number of terminals in an area have performed a designated operation within a preset time period; inquiring a terminal in the area that has not performed the designated operation if it is detected that the preset number of terminals in the area have performed the designated operation within the preset time period; and sending a reminder to the terminal in the area that has not performed the designated operation, the reminder reminding a user of the terminal to perform the designated operation.

0006According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a server, comprising: a processor; and a memory for storing instructions executable by the processor, wherein the processor is configured to: detect whether a preset number of terminals in an area have performed a designated operation within a preset time period; inquire a terminal in the area that has not performed the designated operation if it is detected that the preset number of terminals in the area have performed the designated operation within the preset time period; and send a reminder to the terminal in the area that has not performed the designated operation, the reminder reminding a user of the terminal to perform the designated operation.

0007According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instructions that, when executed by a processor in a server, cause the server to perform a method for reminding a user, the method comprising: detecting whether a preset number of terminals in an area have performed a designated operation within a preset time period; inquiring a terminal in the area that has not performed the designated operation if it is detected that the preset number of terminals in the area have performed the designated operation within the preset time period; and sending a reminder to the terminal in the area that has not performed the designated operation, the reminder reminding a user of the terminal to perform the designated operation.

0008It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

0009The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

0010<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> is a flowchart of a method for reminding a user, according to an exemplary embodiment.

0011<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> is a flowchart of a method for reminding a user, according to an exemplary embodiment.

0012<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> is a block diagram of a device for reminding a user, according to an exemplary embodiment.

0013<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> is a block diagram of a device for reminding a user, according to an exemplary embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

0014Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The following description refers to the accompanying drawings in which the same numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise represented. The implementations set forth in the following description of exemplary embodiments do not represent all implementations consistent with the invention. Instead, they are merely examples of devices and methods consistent with aspects related to the invention as recited in the appended claims.

0015The term “terminal” used in this disclosure means general electronic equipment. A terminal may be, for example, a smart mobile phone, a table PC, a smart television, an eBook reader, a Moving Picture Experts Group Audio Layer III (MP3) player, a Moving Picture Experts Group Audio Layer IV (MP4) player, a portable computer, a desktop computer, and the like.

0016<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> is a flowchart of a method <b>100</b> for reminding a user, according to the first exemplary embodiment. Referring to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>, the method <b>100</b> includes the following steps. In step <b>101</b>, whether a preset number of terminals in an area have performed a designated operation within a preset time period is detected. In step <b>102</b>, if it is detected that the preset number of terminals in the area have performed the designated operation within the preset time period, a terminal in the area that has not performed the designated operation is inquired. In step <b>103</b>, a reminder is sent to the terminal in the area that has not performed the designated operation. The reminder reminds a user of the terminal to perform the designated operation.

0017By using the method <b>100</b> for reminding a user in the above exemplary embodiment, the interaction between the user and the terminal is improved, and unwanted consequences resulted from the user not performing the designated operation are avoided.

0018<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> is a flowchart of a method <b>200</b> for reminding a user, according to the second exemplary embodiment. For example, the method <b>200</b> may be used in a server. Referring to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>, the method <b>200</b> includes the following steps.

0019In step <b>201</b>, location information provided by a terminal not having performed a designated operation is received. The location information provided by the terminal includes, but is not limited to, at least one of an identification of a network accessed by the terminal, an identification of a base station accessed by the terminal, and geographic position information of the terminal.

0020In exemplary embodiments, an identification of a base station accessed by the terminal may be an identification of a base station accessed by the terminal when the terminal connects to a mobile network, or an identification of a base station accessed by the terminal at a current position. Because a coverage area of a base station is generally fixed, terminals corresponding to the same identification of base station can be determined to be in the same area. Further, because the location of a base station is generally fixed and known, the exact location of the terminal can be determined based on the identification of the base station. Alternatively, an identification of the base station may be an identification of a cell served by the base station. The identification of the base station serving the cell can be obtained from a network provider and based on relevant connection information regarding the terminal accessing the network.

0021In exemplary embodiments, an identification of a network accessed by the terminal may include, but not limited to, an IP address of the terminal or a WiFi identification used in the accessed network, which is generally reported by the terminal to a server. A network identification can thus be obtained by access information provided by the terminal.

0022In exemplary embodiments, it can be determined that, if multiple terminals have the same IP address, the multiple terminals are in the same area. Similarly, if multiple terminals have the same WiFi identification used in an accessed network, the multiple terminals can be determined to be in the same area. Although exact locations of the terminals may be unknown, it can be determined that the terminals are in the same area.

0023In exemplary embodiments, geographic position information of the terminal includes latitude and longitude information obtained by, e.g., a built-in positioning module of the terminal.

0024In one exemplary embodiment, after initiating an application in the terminal, the built-in positioning module of the terminal may acquire geographic position information of the terminal and report it to a server.

0025In one exemplary embodiment, the server may determine a position of the terminal based on geographic position information of the terminal. In addition, the server may determine that terminals having the same geographic position information are in the same area.

0026In step <b>202</b>, whether a preset number of terminals have performed a designated operation in an area within a preset time period is detected.

0027In exemplary embodiments, step <b>202</b> may include step <b>202</b>-<b>1</b> and step <b>202</b>-<b>2</b>. In step <b>202</b>-<b>1</b>, an operation record of the designated operation provided by each of one or more terminals in the area having performed the designated operation within the preset time period is received. The operation record includes an operation time of the designated operation, and location information of the terminal corresponding to the operation record.

0028The designated operation may include, but is not limited to: changing an operation profile; initiating a sound recording; initiating a video recording, and so on. Further, there may be multiple designated operations on a terminal. Designated operations may be distinguished by their categories.

0029In one exemplary embodiment, an operating system of the terminal monitors operations on the terminal. When a notification message corresponding to the designated operation is detected, it is determined that the terminal has performed the designated operation. At this time, an operation time of the designated operation is recorded, and location information of the terminal is acquired. Subsequently, an operation record of the designated operation is generated and reported to a server.

0030The location information acquired by the terminal may be at least one of an identification of a network accessed by the terminal, an identification of a base station accessed by the terminal, and geographic position information of the terminal, as described above in step <b>201</b>. The terminal may determine the identification of the base station based on a mobile network that the terminal is accessing. The terminal may also determine a current IP address or a WiFi identification based on a wireless network that the terminal is accessing. Further, the terminal may obtain current geographic position information by instructing a positioning module to acquire the current geographic position information.

0031The server receives and saves the operation record provided by each of the terminals. The server may compile statistics of the designated operation based on an operation time and location information in the operation record.

0032In the step <b>202</b>-<b>2</b>, in accordance with the operation record of the designated operation provided by each of the terminals, whether the preset number of terminals in the area have performed the designated operation within the preset time period is detected.

0033A preset time may be set in accordance with a type of a designated operation. For example, when entering into a meeting room with the meeting about to begin, the preset time may be set short such that a reminded user may change a setting of a terminal quickly. Also for example, a user may set a preset time to be less than two minutes.

0034Determination of whether the terminals are in same area is performed based on the location information described above in connection with step <b>202</b>-<b>1</b>. Determination of whether the terminals are in same area may include: determining whether the terminals correspond to the same identification of the base station; determining whether the terminals correspond to the same network identification; or determining whether the terminals correspond to the same geographic position information.

0035In exemplary embodiments, the server periodically screens and compiles statistics of the operation record provided by each of the terminals. For example, the server first determines the terminals that have performed the same designated operation within the preset time, and then identifies the terminals in the same area in accordance with location information of the terminals that have performed the same designated operation. The server further determines whether the number of the terminals that have performed the designated operation in the same area is greater than the preset number.

0036In step <b>203</b>, if it is detected that the preset number of terminals in the area have performed the designated operation within the preset time period, a terminal that has not performed the designated operation in the area is inquired.

0037When it is detected that the preset number of terminals in the same area have performed the designated operation within the preset time period, the terminal in the area not having performed the designated operation is inquired, and a reminder is sent to the terminal not having performed the designated operation. For example, the terminal that does not report an operation record including the designated operation within the preset time period, and has the same position information as that of the detected terminal is inquired.

0038The manner for judging whether the inquired terminal has the same position information as that of a detected terminal is similar to the above description in connection with step <b>202</b>-<b>2</b>, e.g., selecting a terminal corresponding to the same identification of the base station; or a terminal corresponding to the same network identification; or a terminal corresponding to the same geographic position information.

0039In step <b>204</b>, a reminder is sent to the terminal not having performed the designated operation within the preset time to remind a user of the terminal to perform the designated operation. The reminder may include, but not limited to, a short message, a notification, and the like.

0040For example, when users A, B, C, and D have a meeting, users A, B, and C set an operation profile of each of their terminals to a silent mode within one minute. However, user D does not perform the same setting (silent mode) on an operation profile of his/her terminal. At this time, a server determines that the terminals of users A, B, C and D are in the same area. The server also determines that the terminals of users A, B and C have set the operation profile to a silent mode within a preset time of two minutes. Further, the server determines that the operation profile of user D's terminal has not been set to the silent mode. Subsequently, the server sends a reminder to user D's terminal. The reminder may read: “Please set the operation profile of the terminal to a silent mode.”

0041In exemplary embodiments, the reminder may further include an instruction for performing the designated operation. After the reminder was sent to user D's terminal as described in the above example, an instruction, such as: “Set the operation profile of the terminal to a silent mode,” is provided to user D. User D is then prompted to confirm the instruction. After user D confirms the instruction, the operation profile of user D's terminal is set to a silent mode in accordance with the instruction of the reminder.

0042In exemplary embodiments, when the reminder includes an instruction for performing a designated operation, upon receiving the reminder, user D's terminal performs an operation in accordance with the instruction of the designated operation, and displays the reminder to user D. For this example, the designated operation is performed directly without user D's input.

0043By using the method <b>200</b> for reminding a user in the above exemplary embodiment, the interaction between the user and the terminal is improved, and the unwanted consequence resulted from the user not performing the designated operation is avoided.

0044<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> is a device <b>300</b> for reminding a user, according to an exemplary embodiment. Referring to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>, the device <b>300</b> includes: a detecting module <b>301</b> configured to detect whether a preset number of terminals in an area have performed a designated operation within a preset time period; an inquiring module <b>302</b> configured to inquire a terminal in the area that has not performed the designated operation if it is detected that the preset number of terminals in the area have performed the designated operation within the preset time period; and a sending module <b>303</b> configured to send a reminder to the terminal in the area that has not performed the designated operation, the reminder reminding a user of the terminal to perform the designated operation.

0045The detecting module <b>301</b> includes: a receiving unit <b>301</b>-<b>1</b> configured to receive an operation record of the designated operation provided by each of the terminals in the area having performed the designated operation within the preset time period, the operation record including a timestamp of the designated operation, and a location information of each of the terminals in the area having performed the designated operation within the preset time period; and a detecting unit <b>301</b>-<b>2</b> configured to detect, in accordance with the operation record of the designated operation provided by each of the terminals, whether the preset number of terminals in the area have performed the designated operation within the preset time period.

0046The inquiring module <b>302</b> is configured to inquire the terminal located in the area, and not having reported an operation record of the designated operation within the preset time period.

0047The device <b>300</b> further includes a receiving module <b>304</b> configured to receive location information provided by the terminal not having performed the designated operation. The location information includes at least one of an identification of a network accessed by the terminal, an identification of a base station accessed by the terminal, and geographic position information of the terminal.

0048By using the device <b>300</b> for reminding a user in the above exemplary embodiment, the interaction between the user and the terminal is improved, and the unwanted consequence resulted from the user not performing the designated operation is avoided.

0049<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> is a device <b>400</b> for reminding a user, according to the forth exemplary embodiment. The device <b>400</b> may be provided, for example, as a server. Referring to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref>, the device <b>400</b> includes a processing component <b>422</b> that further includes one or more processors, and memory resources represented by a memory <b>432</b> for storing instructions, such as application programs, executable by the processing component <b>422</b>. The application programs stored in the memory <b>432</b> may include one or more modules, each of them corresponding to a set of instructions. Further, the processing component <b>422</b> is configured to execute the instructions to perform the above described methods.

0050The device <b>400</b> may also include a power component <b>426</b> configured to perform power management of the device <b>400</b>, wired or wireless network interface(s) <b>450</b> configured to connect the device <b>400</b> to a network, and an input/output (I/O) interface <b>458</b>. The device <b>400</b> may operate based on an operating system stored in the memory <b>432</b>, such as Windows Server™, Mac OS X™, Unix™, Linux™, FreeBSD™, or the like.

0051Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed here. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following the general principles thereof and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.

0052It will be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to the exact construction that has been described above and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope thereof. It is intended that the scope of the invention only be limited by the appended claims.